


Double take

by WanderingBandurria



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Awkwardness, Bookstores, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings, Neighbors, One Shot, Pining, Plot Twists, Remus Lupin Never Went to Hogwarts, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26350180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingBandurria/pseuds/WanderingBandurria
Summary: Remus decides to ask out the owner of the shop across the street.Things might not go as planned.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 32
Kudos: 132





	Double take

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I think I'm on an awkward flirting phase. If you like this, you might enjoy [this other fic of mine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26174155).  
> As usual, all my love goes to my lovely beta, LikeABellThroughTheNight, for working on this with me. You are amazing and it's such a wonderful experience of improving my English with you.  
> My thanks also to [SwottyPotter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/swottypotter/works), for the reassurance about the characters.  
> English is not my first language and I love to learn more, so if you spot any mistake or something that sounds weird, please let me know! Even though my beta makes a fantastic job, I always change things in the last second.  
> Hope you like this! I had fun with it for sure.

\---

Remus puts his teacup in the counter and breathes deeply. In and out, in and out. He can do this. He’s been given all the signs - ALL of them. There’s nothing to be scared of. Sirius is right there, sitting outside his building, alone, looking a bit more gloomy than usual, yes, his usual smile not present, but that’s alright, that’s okay, because if Remus keeps postponing this, he’ll lose his nerve and eventually, his chance. 

He just needs to get his shit together, get out of his store, and ask him out. Easy peasy. In and out job, not much risk, now or never and all of that.

They’ve been circling each other for _months_ now, so he should be confident about the attraction between them. Sirius comes to the bookstore _at least_ twice a week under the pretence of browsing through the shelves for this topic or the other; they have lunch and talk about Sirius' work at his independent all-magically-transfigured-objects agency in the building across the street. He asks Remus for advice and they even have collaborated on a couple of projects, staying up late into the night, sharing coffee and talking softly while they cast spells.

And he knows that what started as polite curiosity for each other, after Sirius came to welcome him into the neighbourhood, turned into a close friendship when Sirius learnt that Remus’ mum was a Muggle. He knows they have a lot in common - they share interests, ethics, and a general dread about the future that clashes with hope and love for life. Sirius showed his interest in Remus’ life with question after question about Muggles’ ways, of which he knew to some extent since a lot of his clients asked him to charm Muggle objects. He knows their friendship only grew deeper and deeper with time, and their bond is a strong one.

In the great scale of time, Remus is not completely sure when the flirting started, but he's sure that it's not just his wishful thinking. He knows he found Sirius attractive from the beginning, but he had pushed past that because he had a boyfriend at the beginning of their acquaintance. He knows the flirting started somewhere after Remus told Sirius about his break up, and it intensified to a point of no return when Sirius sat on his counter a couple of weeks ago with a sandwich in his hand and opened up about his family disowning him when his brother ratted him out after finding him with a boy in the halls of Hogwarts. Remus' world turned inside out when Sirius smiled softly but assuredly and said “at least now I can date whoever I want, right?” before his eyes flickered to Remus’ mouth and he jumped off the counter and left the store smiling.

So now it’s time, Remus thinks. He’s been single for over five months and he thinks he has a shot. Moreover, he _knows_ Sirius won’t be harsh if Remus has read the situation wrong. Sirius has been nothing but sweet and playful and close, so there’s no reason to believe he’ll be an asshole about Remus’ feelings. 

And if Sirius didn't care about the _werewolf_ thing, he’s certainly not going to care about Remus having a crush on him - and Remus can deal with unrequited feelings, he truly can. If Sirius paid so much attention to him to see through Remus’ pretend reasons for not having been able to go to Hogwarts, he’ll probably understand Remus having feelings for him. And if after knowing about his lycanthropy he still brought his godson and his best friend to meet Remus; and if he cared enough about Remus’ safety to refer him to Lily Evans, to have someone to make the Wolfsbane for him without risk; and if he kept making casual comments about Remus’ eyes, and touching his fingers and his hair, and mentioning sometimes how he would like to be there on the mornings after the full moon to make sure he’s alright and well-fed and give him all the hugs he needs (even though Remus snorted at that, clarifying that he doesn’t need _hugs_ after the full; not with his bones repositioning in his body, so Sirius changed it for _head pats, then_ )... then, well. Remus dares to believe he might actually have a chance.

So he breathes deeply and changes the sign of the door of his store to _Closed_. He fears he might puke at any moment, but he breathes deeply, pushing his forehead against the cold glass of the door. He gives himself a second - Sirius is _right there_ , he’s not going anywhere. He’s on the bench in front of his building, probably there to have a smoke, and the fact that he didn’t step into Remus’ store only means that it’s time for Remus to show that he’s interested. It’s time for him to do something about this.

So he gets out of the store and walks briskly. Sirius looks at him with his grey eyes, and he looks mildly curious, but all in all, unimpressed. Remus doesn’t dwell on it, and he fixes his eyes on Sirius’ shoulder because he doesn’t think he’s capable of looking him in the eyes right now.

“Hello, Sirius,” he starts, his voice thin and cracking. He doesn’t stop to clear it. It’s now or never, no time to back down. He can see, by the corner of his eye, how Sirius opens his mouth to say hi back, a small frown on his face, but Remus pushes forward, talking fast, stumbling over the words. If he lets Sirius talk, he’s going to ask Remus how he is, or propose another topic of conversation, and Remus can’t have that right now. “Er, I know this might come out of the blue, but do you want to go out with me, someday after work?”

Sirius opens his mouth again, but Remus beats him to it again. He can talk very, very fast when he’s nervous, his brain barely making sense of things before words are pouring out of his mouth.

“I mean on a date, like. An actual date. Um, you see, I think I fancy you. No, no, I know I do. Er. And I would love to…” he trails off when he, bravely, decides to look Sirius in the eye to gauge his reaction, and sees a mocking smirk on the handsome face. _Oh no_ , that’s not right, that’s not what Remus expected. There’s something _weird_ about Sirius today, _fuck, what is it?_ Is Sirius going to laugh at him, tell him that he already has a partner, maybe a girlfriend, that all of this…?

“I’m not Sirius,” the other person says, and _oh no,_ it’s actually not Sirius’ voice, and now that the time has slowed down with Remus’ panic, he can _see_ that that’s not _Sirius’_ jaw, and that actually, this man has a more round face, and his eyes are grey like Sirius’, but a different shade - there’s a bit of green in there, maybe some brown. His demeanour is also different, so different, and his frame slighter; and every detail, _everything is different_ , _how could Remus have confused them, oh fuck, if it wasn’t for his nerves and because he didn’t pay attention to his face because he didn’t want to look at him and, oh fuck, he just outed himself and maybe outed Sirius in front of someone from Sirius’ family, and oh no, oh no…_

“But for what’s worth, I would go out with you, if my brother wasn’t so hung up on you.”

Remus’ jaw falls wildly open. He can feel the flush on his cheeks, and he is tempted to bolt and run to hide in his store and never open it again, but the man in front of him softens the almost hunter-to-prey look he had just a second ago.

“I’m just joking. You are Remus, aren’t you? Sirius talks non-stop about you. I’m his brother, Regulus Black,” he says, with a regal tone. “He’s going to be down here in any minute, so... I’m going to be over there," he points to the end of the street, where the other stores are. "I'll go buy some potions' ingredients, so you can tell him what you just told me,” he pauses and wrinkles his nose. “Well, maybe not _exactly_ the same. I’m sure you don’t need to explain what you mean - he’s been pining for you for almost a year now. Very tiresome for all of us, actually, with the exception of Potter, of course, because he was the same with Evans, so he’s been basking in it with pleasure. It’s his personal revenge for all the mockery he got from Sirius about his own pathetic crush,” he says, standing up, cleaning his robes of invisible dust with his hands. He gives one last nod to Remus and waves his hand, as only people that come from money can do - almost casually and still looking derisive and _barely_ polite. “It was nice to meet you, Remus. I’m sure I’ll see you around,” and with that, Regulus turns, leaving him there, still gaping at his back, his face red.

“Remus?” comes a voice at his back. When he turns, thinking seriously about running back to the bookstore and hiding there for the rest of the year, Sirius is _there_ , and oh wow, he’s so handsome, and his eyes so soft, and he looks at Remus like he’s _everything_ and now Remus just has to, to… he doesn’t know what.

“Are you…?” Sirius starts, but quickly, before he can think about it, Remus takes the three steps that separate them, and puts Sirius’ face between his hands, making him look down at him. Sirius looks startled, but he smiles quickly.

“Can I kiss you?” Remus asks, his voice shaking a bit, even though all he can see in Sirius’ eyes is warmth.

“Yeah. Can I take you out on a date later?” Sirius answers, talking lowly and hushed, only for Remus’ ears.

“I would love that,” he answers simply, before leaning forward and kissing Sirius. He thinks he’s going to melt into the floor, if not for Sirius’ hands on his waist. He breathes deeply, shakingly against Sirius’ cheek, and sighs into Sirius’ mouth.

When they part, he pushes his forehead against Sirius’. He takes one breath, two breaths, before starting to laugh.

“I kinda asked your brother out without meaning to,” he says, tears of mirth and nervousness coming from his eyes between hiccups. He grabs Sirius’ arms and lets his forehead fall onto his shoulder, feeling his face flush again. He can hear Sirius’ raspy laughter in his ear, the air tickling him, and Sirius’ hands squeeze his elbows.

“I kinda heard you,” Sirius says against his ear, laughing openly.

Remus nods, sighs, and dries the tears from his face.

“Would you come over later, then?” he smiles, trying to recompose himself and gain some semblance of dignity. There’s not much hope for that now, but if Sirius wants him, it's because he likes him as the mess he is.

“Yeah. I’ll go find Reggie now. See you at five?”

Remus just nods and pecks him on the lips before squeezing his arms. He runs back to his store, almost tripping in the middle of the street. He doesn’t really care because his heart is racing and he can only think of how Sirius kissed him. 

He gets into the store and when he turns to move the sign of the store to _Open_ , and he can see that Sirius is still there, in the same spot, looking besotted, a soppy expression in his face. He looks at Remus directly in the eyes, making a rush of heat go down Remus’ back, before he waves, awkwardly, and laughs. Remus smiles and waves back, before moving back to the counter, where his tea is still warm.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always welcomed!!
> 
> Come follow me on [Tumblr](https://wanderingbandurria.tumblr.com/)! I love meeting people from around the world, so come and yell at me!


End file.
